ABVP, SFI members clash as Ramjas row seeps into Pune varsity

ABVP activists clashed with SFI members at the Savitribai Phule Pune University on Friday night, following a dispute over putting up posters on the Ramjas College controversy.

Universities Under AttackUpdated: Feb 28, 2017 18:40 IST

HT Correspondent Hindustan Times

Police intervene in a clash between ABVP activists and students at Ramjas College earlier this week. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

Activists of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) clashed with members of the Left-leaning Students Federation of India (SFI) at the Savitribai Phule Pune University on Friday night, following a dispute over putting up posters on the Ramjas College controversy.

Five students sustained minor injuries in the incident, and both groups have lodged complaints against each other. Police are recording their statements.

Sources said ABVP activists burnt an effigy of JNU student Umar Khalid, who was arrested for sedition last year, on Friday morning. SFI members retaliated later that evening by putting up posters condemning Maharashtra education minister Vinod Tawde for “threatening” their colleagues at a Solapur polytechnic college – an act that raised the ABVP’s hackles.

“We were attacked by ABVP activists, including some outsiders,” said SFI secretary Vlas Pable.

The right-wing group, however, defended its action. “We are firmly opposed to inviting Umar Khalid to Ramjas College,” said ABVP secretary Pradeep Gawde.

Police personnel have been deployed on the campus to prevent any recurrence of violence.

Delhi University’s Ramjas College is witnessing a face-off between ABVP activists and members of AISA – another Left-leaning student organisation – over inviting Khalid to address an event titled ‘The culture of protest’.